Theorizing STEM Through a Critical, Phenomenological, and Ecological Approach

• In Event: Defining, Conceptualizing, and Reimagining Urban STEM Education

Abstract

Scholars invested in enhancing the STEM experiences and outcomes of individuals historically excluded and contemporarily minoritized because of their social identities must engage theories or conceptual frameworks that fully account for structural and systemic oppression. Theories and conceptual frameworks are tools that help explore, explain, and predict the outcomes of research when considering the components of research (Suppers, 1974). Frameworks that name various forms of oppression (i.e., racial, intersectional, etc.) as structural and systemic require scholars to account for their individual biases, “see” the world from the vantage point of those oppressed and enact transformative action to change the context. When research is done on historically excluded communities in the absence of these frameworks, deficit-oriented, pathologizing perspectives of people and their capabilities ensue.
Purpose: To shift STEM education research and practice, maintaining a mindset of centering and emboldening those minoritized, this presentation offers a conceptual model that leverages critical, phenomenological-ecological frameworks to theorize STEM and its implications on people’s experiences.
Perspectives: The conceptual model put forward leverages Critical Race Theory (CRT) and Phenomenological Variant Ecological Systems Theory (PVEST). CRT is a framework that attends to the prevalence, permanence, and impact of racism embedded within and manifested through the policies, practices, norms, and expectations of U.S. social institutions, and how those concepts have differentially impacted the lived experiences of Black and Brown individuals (Delgado, & Stefanick, 2017). PVEST is an identity-focused, cultural ecology framework that incorporates phenomenology and cultural ecology to examine the essence of individual experiences while navigating social structures regulated by societal, institutional, and community norms, practices, and ideologies (Spencer, 2006).
Outcomes: The model provided comprises four interacting PVEST cycles—one for students, one for teachers, one for parents/guardians, and one for administrators. These cycles highlight the experiences of each person within the STEM ecosystem per the five components of PVEST (i.e., net vulnerability, stress engagements, reactive coping, emergent identity, life-stage outcomes) and their implications for the individual within the feature cycle. The model also shows how these cycles are nested in ecosystems (i.e., micro, meso, exo, macro, chrono) bounded by the premises of CRT, and the role the context plays on shaping individuals’ perceptions, experiences, and decisions. Lastly, the model highlights the relationships between cycles (i.e., how a parent’s cycle impacts a student’s cycle, etc.), noting the various junctures in which possible contextual interventions and structural change can occur to positively influence decision-making and behavioral outcomes.
Scholarly Significance: This paper offers scholars the opportunity to theorize STEM, “seeing” its culture and how it influences the experiences and outcomes of minoritized students. By providing the mechanism to theorize STEM and its implications, this identifies critical junctures within the STEM ecosystem that need addressing to truly enhance the living experiences and educational outcomes of minoritized individuals. Additionally, it facilitates scholars’ ability to “see” what constitutes STEM—its norms, values, beliefs, and practices—how said culture is rooted in whiteness (e.g., McGee, 2020), and how it impacts racially minoritized individuals. This insight can anchor the re-envisioning process.

Author

• Terrell R Morton, University of Illinois at Chicago
  Presenting Author